Book brouhaha: 'Tango' back in school

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Book brouhaha: 'Tango' back in school

Updated: March 24, 2012 - 7:27 PM

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After a parent complaint, an improper removal and a community uproar, a kids' book about two male penguins hatching and raising a baby chick together is back on the shelves of Gibbs Elementary School.

The book, "And Tango Makes Three," tells a true tale. But a parent complained and critics contend that it endorses a gay lifestyle.

Rochester Superintendent Michael Muñoz apologized last week after a packed meeting. School district spokeswoman Jennifer Pozanc said the proper policy for removing a book includes a 13-person reconsideration committee, which voted to keep the book on the shelf.

A parent can appeal to the full board during a public hearing.

But Muñoz, who yanked the book last fall, and two school board members acted without the hearing and without the full board's review, so "we're back at the beginning of the process," Pozanc said.

It's unknown if the initial protesting parent, whose name hasn't been disclosed, will restart the removal process.

No one spoke against the book at the recent meeting, where Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede held a sign proclaiming Rochester as an "inclusive community."